I teamed up with Meta and WhatsApp in 2022 to create a gamification of training materials that taught business owners how to use the WhatsApp platform to sell their products and/or services.
Below is the process by which I lead the team in game development and art direction.
Final Imagery
The Ask
In order to begin the project this was the presentation brought before the higher-ups at Meta to show them why WhatsApp needed this new gamification for business owners on the platform to learn from instead of a regular training session.
This is also where my inspiration as the Art Director began.
Research and Development
In speaking with the WhatsApp Training and Development team, I was steered into the direction of flat illustration. We would have loved to do some isometric designs, but because of time constraints, we landed on flat illustrations. I did lots of personal research and fully familiarized myself with WhatsApp’s branding.
After becoming acquainted with the illustration style the WhatsApp team wanted (see Game Concept slide) and their branding, I put together a mood board of illustrated video games and concepts.
Game Design Document
I wrote this Game Design Document to create a basic metric by which everyone who would work on this game could use and rely on when it comes to game direction, art direction and even music direction. This was the bible by which we all worked off of to create a game that was fully cohesive and worked beautifully together.
Wireframing
This was how we determined how the game flowed. What quizzes went where, how the quizzes needed to look, how the user will get from one section to the next and so on.
Design and Illustration
Now begins the fun part! The part where I designed and illustrated the game. I started with the town since it was the main focal point of the game. This is where the user will return again and again. I then designed the interiors of the buildings, the clickable objects within each building and the environment for each themed building. Finally, I designed the characters. There needed to be three sets of characters. The townspeople, managers for each building and the mayoral candidates which were the avatars for the user.
Opening and Ending
Clover Hills needed an opening where the game is set up and you as the user get your objective. In this case the game opens with a letter asking the user to accept the mission of running for mayor in the city of Clover Hills. They then drive over and begin the game. There is a quick tutorial showing them how to play, what the mechanics are and what to do inside each building when they enter.
The ending is then set up as election night. The user answers a few questions asked by the audience members and subsequently win the game with a final vote count and a celebratory frame showing their avatar.
Animation
We wanted to include some animation as well. We decided that some interaction would be best paired with the animation. A few of the opening screens are interactive and have animation that is triggered after the user interacts with it.
Below are two videos showcasing the animated illustrations. I created these animations within Adobe After Effects using my illustrations.